A good-bye to Monty
by artemis619
Summary: A tribute to the man who made this fandom possible.


There was a steady rainfall at the cemetery, despite it being the middle of the day. The bleak, grey, and clouded skies matched the mood that surrounded the group of people that were gathered around a dug hole in the ground. Everyone in attendance all wore black as they listened to the sound of the rain drops hitting the umbrellas carried by people for themselves or for another who had none for themselves.

Soon, as if with a silent cue, everyone in attendance split down the middle to allow four girls holding a coffin in their hands walk down.

The first thing people would notice would be the blood red hood that covered the face of a small girl, whose hands were the only thing that showed any visible skin as she held for dear life onto one of the coffin handles. Ruby was not keen on showing her face. Not this time. Not when she had tears running down her face.

Weiss's face was composed, her posture perfect, as she held onto her part of the coffin. She took great care to keep her emotions in check, not wanting to make herself unpresentable. It was her job to keep as composed a look as she could. Not because it was her job as a Schnee member, but because she didn't know what would happen if she let even a drop go past her eyes.

Blake kept her yellow eyes forward as she continued the seemingly long walk down the precession line. Her cat ears flickered occasionally as raindrops continued to go down on her black hair. On any normal occasion, the faunus girl would have kept her bow on her head to hide who she was to the world. But then again… this was no normal occasion.

Last of all, Yang's face seemed to hold no emotion. Her mouth didn't dare move; neither to smile, frown, nor crack a crappy pun. This was not a day for her to be doing so. Not when she had already gone through this with Summer Rose. She just wasn't up to it.

Team JNPR stood in the front row where hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people were gathered for the funeral of one who was dearly loved. Jaune and Pyrrha stood side by side, the blonde leader holding up an umbrella for them both to share as they shed silent tears. Next to them stood Ren, fuchsia eyes downcast as he held his own umbrella with Nora underneath, holding a corgi tightly in her arms. Zwei let loose a small whimper as the ginger hugged him closer to her face so she could hide her tears. Even he could feel the grief of losing someone that was so dear.

When the girls finally made it to where the hole was they stopped just as the coffin was held over it. They stood there silently as a woman with tied back blonde hair and glasses walked forward in all black, her whipping stick still in her hand as she stood at the foot of the coffin. Pushing her glasses up, Glynda made a movement with her object which suddenly surrounded the coffin in a soft purple light.

Team RWBY released the coffin and stepped back as it was slowly lowered into the ground and headed towards their seats. When Ruby walked near Nora she silently held her arms out, where the ginger gently placed Zwei, before the hooded girl walked over to where her sister had an umbrella open for the two of them to share.

Whatever eulogies were spoken at the funeral that day fell mostly on deaf and grieving ears. Mostly sobs and sniffles could be heard coming from the crowds of people in attendance. When the ceremony was done Glynda used her semblance once more to fill the hole with dirt so to officially bury the man who lost his life.

Silently, the crowd began to dwindle, and after a long while the only people left were teams RWBY and JNPR. Ruby, Weiss Blake and Yang walked forward first, the cat and blonde still holding umbrellas for their teammates. Weiss walked forward and placed down a bouquet consisting of red roses, white calla lilies, black dahlias, and yellow daises gingerly and with as much poise as she could hold for a lady. Then she stood up and walked back to her place next to Blake with the heiress's face streaming with tears. All four stood in silence while Zwei gave a whimper in Ruby's arms.

Soon, they too left, leaving JNPR as the only ones at the gravesite.

"I… I don't really know what to say…" The tall blonde said slightly stunned. A pair of bright green eyes looked up to her leader and placed a sturdy hand on his shoulder. "Me neither." She said simply before looking back at the grave.

Ren stood in total silence as he looked at the grave stone, finding no words that he could say. Even if he were to say anything it felt like there was some powerful force preventing him to do so. He looked over to the small ginger girl who seemed to sense his gaze. She looked up to meet his eyes, nodding at the silent message he seemed to be sending her.

Walking forward and stopping just in front of the headstone, Nora dug into her raincoat pocket and pulled out a pink lotus flower which she placed carefully on the ground next to the bouquet their friends had left behind. Nora stayed in her position in the rain for long while as she and the rest of the team continued to look at the gravestone.

Soon the ginger girl lifted a slightly trembling hand and with her index finger touched the front of the stone. With tears rolling down her face, Nora managed to give a weak smile as she uttered a single and painful word. "Boop..." Then she stood up and walked back to Ren who placed an arm over her shoulders and began walking off, Jaune and Pyrrha following behind.

The rain continued to fall around the now abandoned gravesite, drops of water clinging to the petals of the flowers left on the grave. Soon the flowers began to look like they were sparkling as a ray of sunshine peaked its way through the storm clouds, the beams of light cascading gently on water soaked mementos as well as shining on the written words of the headstone:

_"'I believe that the human spirit is indomitable. If you endeavor to achieve, it will happen given enough resolve. It may not be immediate, and often your greater dreams is something you will not achieve within your own lifetime. The effort you put forth to anything transcends yourself, for there is no futility even in death.'_

_-Monty Oum_

_Loving husband, dearest friend, an outside the box thinker."_

* * *

Monty, you have touched so many lives with your skill as an animator and your outside the box thinking for when you created this amazing franchise that we all love. Rest in peace Monty Oum, make sure you get plenty of sleep where you're going.


End file.
